Following Serpico (1973) and Prince of the City (1981), veteran urban crime film director Sidney Lumet completed a thematic trilogy about New York City police corruption with this noir drama. When New York City cop Mike Brennan (Nick Nolte) shoots an unarmed Hispanic drug dealer in cold blood, he quickly plants a gun on his victim and manufactures some eyewitness testimony. D.A. Kevin Quinn (Patrick O'Neal) calls in his assistant district attorney, Al Reilly (Timothy Hutton), to conduct a
perfunctory investigation of the incident, but Brennan's obvious guilt during a question and answer session makes Reilly dig deeper. The crusading lawyer is soon uncovering a web of corruption that reaches from Brennan into Quinn's office. At the same time, Reilly learns that his ex-girlfriend Nancy Bosch (Jenny Lumet, the director's daughter), is now dating his chief witness, Puerto Rican drug dealer Bobby Texador (Armand Assante). Q&A (1990) was based on the novel by Edwin Torres, a New York State Supreme Court judge whose two other novels were later adapted into the film Carlito's Way (1993). Lumet would again return to the subject of New York's corrupt criminal justice system with Night Falls on Manhattan (1997). ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
Q&A is a major film by one of our finest mainstream directors. As both a portrait of modern-day corruption and an act of sheer storytelling bravura, it is not to be missed.
A New York at odds with Woody Allen's, albeit also filled with angst; where Allen dissects the middle class in the throes of its own insecurities, Lumet cruises the underbelly
Sidney Lumet's third film about corruption in the NYC police department is a gritty, gripping and profane thriller with a powerhouse performance by an intimidating Nick Nolte.
Q&A is a fairly typical Lumet film in the tradition of Prince of the City, Night in Manhattan, and well, everything else since Serpico (with the notable exception of the brilliant Before the Devil Knows You're Dead). In a lot of ways it seems that Lumet got stuck on this corruption in the force thing and devoted the
rest of his career to pounding that theme to death. I'm not denying the importance of his subject, but I've found it very easy to see where his films are going. What's odd is that because I'm such a fan with a broad knowledge of his work, I've found watching his movies for the first time less enjoyable.One good thing about watching these older films (1990 is not that long ago) is I'm reminded of just how good some of these actors were in their prime. Hutton and especially Nolte deliver excellent performances.Last, I did have trouble with the ending. I don't think the final note of the film was developed as the film's principal conflict. Hopefully that was vague enough to avoid giving anything away.
September 12, 2010
Jim Hunter
Super Reviewer
Nick Nolte plays a greasy smell bad racist cop, who tries to intimidate Timothy Hutton. Justice is served to the pig.
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